A sperm whale spotted by people off Martinique’s Raisiniers beach, has been defying efforts to coax it back into the open sea, local reports say.
Swimmers originally took the animal for a shark when they saw a dorsal fin protruding from the water.
At times it was about 50 metres from shore.
The sighting evoked memories of two recent shark attacks in the Caribbean.
One occurred earlier this month in St Kitts & Nevis where a medical student lost her leg.
But an earlier attack in December in St Martin resulted in the death of a French woman.
RCI Martinique reported that on Thursday, firefighters and members of the maritime training school tried to accompany the young sperm whale out to sea.
The publication quoted Gilbert Buval, trainer at the maritime training school, as saying that the animal was not suffering.
However he expressed the view that it had lost its sense of direction.
The 2-meter-long cetacean kept returning to the La Trinité bay every time an attempt was made to get it out to sea.
Headline photo courtesy MartiniqueFranceAntilles
